Des Plaines festival to draw crowds, traffic

100,000 may attend Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration

A 2010 photo of the statue of the Virgen de Guadalupe at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe church at Maryville campus in Des Plaines. (Tribune file photo)

Traffic will snarl parts of Des Plaines starting Sunday when thousands of people begin to flock to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Maryville Academy for an annual celebration, authorities said.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe festival, which is expected to draw 100,000 people, begins at 4 p.m. Sunday and ends at 8 p.m. Monday at 1150 N. River Road, police said. On Sunday night at midnight, a brief fireworks display will be held on the north end of the campus.

The celebration pays homage to the day when many Catholics believe the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to a peasant named Juan Diego near Mexico City in 1531.

Police will shut down the Central and River roads intersection at 7 p.m. Sunday.